2020 Audi Q3 vs 2023 Porsche Macan

What's the difference?

I’ve said it before: I don’t get coupe SUVs.

What’s the point? The concept is to take an already debatably practical car shape, and then file down its roofline so that it’s… even less practical?

I can’t think of a more vain concept. Have we really fallen so far into SUV obsession that cars like this need to exist?

Audi says yes with the Q3, and I hate to admit it, but this particular coupe SUV has me questioning my thoughts on the topic. I can’t help but admit this is one of the best-looking small SUV’s I’ve ever seen.

But is it skin-deep? Does the Q3 formula still work with a cropped roofline? Is it still nice to drive and packed with tech? Read on to find out.

For Porsche, T is much more than the 20th letter of the alphabet. In Weissach-world it stands for Touring, and has been applied to special 911 variants for over half a century.

More recently it’s been attached to the 718 Boxster and Cayman, and now the mid-size Macan SUV.

Porsche says T means “precise tuning, exclusive equipment and efficient engines”, and this most recent example adds another option in the Macan line-up, one rung above the entry-level model.

We spent a week with this recently introduced 2.0-litre, four-cylinder, AWD machine to see how far it expands the Porsche Macan performance and practicality envelope.